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TPA innovates with new remote bag check

(May 1, 2018) Checking your luggage has never been easier at Tampa International Airport.

Since opening at TPA on Feb. 14, the Airport’s new remote bag check service has surpassed all expectations and has quickly become a popular amenity for many guests passing through the new Rental Car Center.

To date, TPA has processed more than 75,000 bags, including nearly 55,000 from Southwest Airlines, easily surpassing the Airport’s initial projections.

“We’re extremely pleased with the new service and we believe it adds tremendous value for our passengers,” said Beth Zurenko, TPA’s Vice President of Real Estate. “We positioned our remote bag check near the SkyConnect entrance in the Rental Car Center so it could be easily used by all of our guests. It’s been tremendously popular so far.”

Bags, the company that manages the remote service, routinely processes upwards of 1,000 bags per day with a peak around the 2,500 mark – more than three times the initial projection.

“This new service is going gangbusters – it’s really a great amenity for TPA’s guests,” said D’Anne Mica, a spokeswoman for Bags, which is based in Orlando. “The service is turning heads from airports around the country who are interested in the technology and service.”

The service is currently available to Southwest, Delta and American passengers. Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue and Spirit airlines are expected to be added in the near future. To use the service, passengers must check their bag 90 minutes prior to departure.

The busy service has meant that Bags has needed to bring on even more employees than initially thought. Bags currently has about 60 employees and is looking to add another 30 to support operations.

Mica said the service is great for hurried passengers and families towing large amounts of luggage.

“It really takes away a lot of the stress of traveling,” she said.

TPA is one of the first, if not the first, airport to offer a remote bag check and boarding pass area servicing multiple airlines. Passengers are able to print their boarding pass and bag tag, drop the bag off at the counter, and board the SkyConnect – all without having to lug their bags through the terminal.

Maria Rhodes, the General Manager for Bags at Tampa International Airport, says that passengers routinely comment on the convenience of the remote bag check service. She said a key piece of the success of the system is its location and the user-friendly nature of the kiosks.

For those looking for an even higher level of service, Bags also offers Bags VIP luggage delivery where guests can skip bag claim altogether. Bags employees will retrieve your checked luggage at your destination airport same-day and deliver it within 100 miles of your airport.